Gran Turismo 6 Reviews: How Did The Doritocracy Handle Microtransactions?

US Gamer doesn't connote any dangers to microtransactions, but they do point out that it's something you can overlook in the game, as Gran Turismo 6 hasn't altered its gameplay to suit the grind usually associated with persuading gamers to use the cash shop, writing...

“What is different this time around is that you earn fewer cars through racing, but for the most part, it seems Gran Turismo’s microtransactions really are what Sony boss Shuhei Yoshida said they are: the means for someone who can’t play the game much to buy their way through it. That's fine by me: GT6 can have as many microtransactions as it wants as long as it doesn’t feel like the game is being fixed to milk cash out of me like Forza 5 does.”

PlayStation Lifestyle mentions that credits can be tough to come by early in the game – which isn't any different from any other previous Gran Turismo title – but the payout is consistent enough that the game doesn't delve too far into grind-like-a-Chinese-gold-farmer-territory...

“Credits are the in-game currency that you’ll need to purchase and upgrade your cars. Early on these credits can be hard to come by and you may have to grind out a few races to get that car ready for the next step up in competition. Once you make it to the International B level, races earn you considerably more for a first place and will start to add up in a hurry.”

If you think this makes the Doritocracy look good, you may be thinking too positively too soon. The largest gaming site out there, IGN, completely forgoes the mention of microtransactions altogether in their review.

This is one of the more disheartening revelations given that it would take several Metacritic reviews from other large and mid-tier sites combined to make up for the amount of pagehits that an IGN review will garner, even more-so for a high-profile title like Gran Turismo 6. Yet, unfortunately, gamers reading IGN's review won't receive much info as to whether or not cash shop pervasiveness is an issue in Gran Turismo 6, much like many gamers weren't made aware that the microtransactions played such a prominent role in NBA 2K14.

Thankfully, IGN's fumble was recovered by Gamespot's save. An article was posted about Gran Turismo 6's review still being in progress, and writer Joseph Barron makes it abundantly clear that they will address the microtransactions in the final review. Thank you, Gamespot.

It looks like the Doritocracy are willing to share the nachos with the community this time around.

Keep in mind, though, that this is not a brand thing; it's not platform partisanship; this is not console bias dictating the decision to leave out important pro-consumer issues. This is an industry thing.

Hopefully we'll see more reviews along the lines of the ones popping up for Gran Turismo 6, where reviewers are honestly taking into account the important issues that gamers feel need to be addressed, before said gamers commit to that $60 first-week purchase publishers worship oh so much.